The Spider Kid
by The Professional
Summary: There's a new spider in town...
1. Emergence

DISCLAIMER

'Spider-Man', 'Spider-Girl' and all the characters from both belong to Marvel Comics.

**CHAPTER ONE - Emergence**.

Being the Spider-Girl is nowhere near as exciting as it used to be.

This is how one of my days usually plays out…

**1)** I go to school.

**2)** I come home.

**3)** I hang out with Davida, Courtney and/or Nancy, study, whatever.

**4)** In the evening, I go out as Spider-Girl.

There was a time when number 4 was the highlight of my day, as New York, especially Manhattan, is never short of a few crimes to stop and criminals to foil. At least, it was until 'The Spider Kid' showed up. Now, every time I hear a shop alarm, I arrive to find the Spider Kid completely overwhelming a group of armed thugs, flipping and springing all over the street while dealing out stiff punches and kicks as well as webbing attacks to the would-be felons. Same applies to any gang's attempts at a Rumble as well as carjackings, muggings, purse-snatchings, you name it, chances are, he's there do deal out some 'rough justice', as Dad once called it.

The Spider Kid's powers are very similar to my father's and my own. He has the incredible agility, speed, strength and wall crawling abilities. Even his costume is similar, though his uses a red and black colour scheme and there are some subtle differences in the design. Of course, neither I or my father know for certain who he is. In fact, since the Spider Kid's first appearance six months ago, we're no closer to figuring out his identity, though we do suspect someone...

My little brother – Simon Nicholas Parker.

This of course would make sense, after all, our father was Spider-Man, and I, May 'Mayday' Parker, have been Spider-Girl for over two years now, so it would make sense for another Parker to 'inherit' Dad's spider-powers, right? Plus, Mom would go nuts if another member of the family were to become a costumed vigilante. It was bad enough trying to convince her, and Dad for that matter, to allow me to use my abilities to help others, but Simon? No way would Mom allow it he had any powers, so it would make sense if he were to become this 'Spider Kid' and keep it a secret from all of us.

Then there's the fact that my powers began to emerge when I was 15. And by an interesting coincidence, Simon turned 15 just over seven months ago – just before the Spider Kid became New York's newest crime-fighting 'menace to society'…

"_Morning Si'._" _May greeted her little brother as he came down for breakfast one morning. "Ready to face the world as a big bad fifteen year old?_"

_Simon merely scowled at her seventeen year old sister and said nothing. Both his parents noticed this – Simon's bad mood had lasted all weekend. Even his fifteenth birthday the day before hadn't improved it._

"_What's wrong, Simon?_"_ asked Mary-Jane as she put her youngest son in his high-chair._

_Suddenly, May smirked as a thought entered her mind. "Oh dear._" _she said, drawing out the 'oh' part for nearly five seconds. "Girl trouble, am I right?_"

_Simon looked up, giving her a look that clearly said 'shut up', which she did. His parents, however, didn't._

"_Oho._" _grinned Peter, looking up from his morning paper. "Got a girlfriends already, eh Si'?_"

_Simon glared at his father, wishing they would all just shut up – they didn't have a clue what was going on, though admittedly, Kathryn Powell and the fact he didn't have the guts to just ask her out was one of the things that had him in a bad mood at the moment. However, there was more to it than that…_

_Without saying a word, Simon got up and left the kitchen._

I admit that what I said was kinda mean, but then again, I didn't have a clue what was really going on with my brother's life until after school that same day. After that, something about Simon changed…

**-x-x-x-**

"You broke his nose?" Peter yelled furiously at the fifteen year old before him. "What is wrong with you? What were you thinking?"

May watched as her mother read the letter they'd been sent concerning something that had happened during lunch hour at school earlier that day – apparently, just like Jimmy Yama, Simon had punched Moose Mansfield. Last time, Jimmy had accidentally punched Moose in the throat, but this time, Moose Mansfield, star football player and bully, had had his nose broken with just one punch from a boy over two years younger than him. The main difference between the two incidents though was that Jimmy had felt incredibly guilty about what had happened, Simon had no such feelings. As Peter Parker demanded that his son apologise to Moose, Simon just stood there shaking his head incredulously, which didn't go down well with either of his parents, especially when he backed up his refusal by saying that Moose 'deserved a lot worse'…

A few minutes later, May went upstairs to her brother's room and found him sitting on his bed.

"Si'?" said May carefully. "You okay?"

Simon sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure?" May continued.

"Look, I'm fine Mayday!" snapped Simon. "Just leave me alone, okay?"

"Simon…"

"Will someone in this family please just listen to me for once?" Simon yelled. "Leave. Me. Alone."

Immediately, May left Simon's room and went downstairs, leaving behind a very angry younger brother. _Typical, _he fumed mentally. _Just fucking typical! The one time I stand up for myself and I get treated like the one in the wrong while that jackass's treated like he's the victim. I mean, I sure as hell don't remember Mayday getting in this kinda trouble when she broke Howard whatsisname's hand while sticking up for Sandra Healy, so why do I get yelled at, grounded and suspended? _He went over to his bedroom window and stared at his own reflection. _Oh, yeah, I forgot, May Parker can do no wrong, even before she got her powers. I mean, she has it all – she's popular, has all the friends she could ever want, she doesn't need to wear glasses when reading, she's a star on the basketball team and she's Spider-Girl, whereas I'm just her unimportant little brother. She's actually worth something. And what am I? Nothing. Worthless. Unimportant. Just some average, mundane, underestimated, overlooked loner who's not even allowed to stand up for himself, not even once. _He punched the wall in frustration. _Fucking assholes, all of them. Fucking school. Fucking parents. Fucking sister. Fucking life…_

Suddenly, as he punched the wall, he heard a noise. For a second, he wondered if he'd imagined it.

Then he saw it.

From a spot just above his wrist, a thin, string-like substance connected his wrist to the wall just above his bed on the other end of his room. Staring at it for a few seconds, he then clenched one of his fingers, causing the 'string' to retreat back into his hand.

_What the hell? _Simon thought, staring at his wrist. _No way. _He aimed his wrist at the wall again and clenched his fist. Nothing happened. He tried again, this time tapping his hand with his ring finger, just like his father and sister did when using web-shooters. This time, the same substance shot from his wrist and hit the wall. He flicked his wrist suddenly and the 'string' was severed from his wrist, dropping down to the floor, though still attached to the wall. Bending down, he picked up a part of the 'string' and looked at it. It was quite sticky, and when he tried to break it, quite strong as well. Looking at it, there was only one possibility…

Webbing.

But that just wasn't possible. Web-shooters and web fluid were both required to make a web line like the one in Simon's hand, but he had neither. But there it was – a line of webbing, produced by nothing but Simon's own body. He looked at his wrist again incredulously and tried again. Another web-line shot out from his wrist, this time attaching itself to the ceiling. He then tried it with his left hand. The first web-line on the ceiling was joined by another one. Severing both of them, leaving two web-lines dangling from the ceiling as well as the first one draped over his bed, Simon stood there staring at them.

Eventually, he decided that he should get rid of the web-lines before someone came in and freaked out. Taking the one off his bed was no problem, but as for the ceiling…

_I wonder… _thought Simon. A split second later, he jumped with his arms stretched above his head and found himself dangling above the floor with both palms stuck to the ceiling. Smirking to himself, Simon unstuck one of his hands and reached out for the two web-lines stuck to the ceiling and detached them both from the ceiling. He looked up at his other hand, which seemed to be supporting his weight with no problem. By now, Simon was starting to get a little excited.

He had spider-powers.

Dropping down to the floor, he quickly gathered up the webbing and went to go downstairs. However, he stopped as he approached the door. _"There's no way I'm letting you be a superhero if you do get any powers! We already have enough heroes in the family!_" exclaimed the voice of his mother in the back of his mind. _"Simon, we don't need your help right now. Maybe some other time._" said his father's voice, every time he tried to help either his father or sister. _"Just stay out of it Simon. You'll only get hurt._" warned his sister's voice only a month ago when Speed Freak had been on a rampage, running circles around May every time she'd tried to confront him, though she did find a way to stop him eventually. _Oh_,_ what's the point? _Simon thought. _They'll never let me use these powers anyway if I do tell 'em. But then again, I should probably tell them now, I mean, I can't keep these powers to myself, can I?_

_Can I?_

After putting the three web-lines in the bin, Simon sat down on his bed again and began to consider his options. On the one hand, there was telling his parents about his sudden development of powers, just May two years before, and have them forbid him from using them. On the other, there was just keeping them to himself and doing nothing with them anyway. None of those options appealed to Simon as much as the third option – using them. After all, if a new costumed arachnid inspired superhero suddenly appeared, then all he'd have to do was make sure that no-one could prove it was him. All he needed was a costume, which wouldn't be too much of a problem as there were plenty of spare Spider costumes lying around the attic that he could alter, and the fact that he didn't need web-shooters would make it much harder to prove it was him if he didn't actually use any…

_Hold on, _he thought suddenly. _What the hell am I thinking? Become a superhero? That's just ridiculous. I'm no hero. I'm just… _He stopped in mid-thought. _No. It doesn't matter what anyone else says. If I do have the powers of Spider-Man, then I'm damn well gonna use them however I see fit. And no-one's gonna stop me. Not Mom, not Dad, not Mayday, no-one. I'm gonna prove I'm worth something if it's the last thing I do._

With that, Simon Parker's mind was made up. No-one would know the identity of New York's newest costumed vigilante until he had proven that he was worth something. No-one would know until he told someone. And no-one was going to stop him. It was his decision – no-one else's.

And Simon Nicholas Parker had made his decision.

**-x-x-x-**

**Authors Notes**

This story is set in a world that uses characters from both Spider-Man and Spider-Girl.

If anyone's played 'Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro' on the PS1, then the Spider Kid's costume is similar to the 'Alex Ross – Red' one, except the upside-down triangle on the back goes down further than the one on the front.


	2. The Debut

DISCLAIMER

'Spider-Man', 'Spider-Girl' and all the characters from both belong to Marvel Comics.

**CHAPTER TWO – The Debut.**

Just over a month later, Simon Parker was allowed to return to Midtown High School.

"Yo, Simon!" greeted Steve Graham, Simon's only real friend. "Good t'see ya back, man."

"Good to see you too, Stretch." replied Simon, having to look up slightly at his much taller friend. "How've things been?"

"Not too bad." shrugged Steve. "Nuthin' exciting, though it seems that Moose's been leavin' people alone since you popped his nose. In fact, you were almost a hero for a week afterwards to some people."

"For real?" said Simon, slightly surprised by this. "Like who?"

"Well, Kathryn Powell seemed pretty happy every time you were mentioned in a good light." said Steve.

"Really?" exclaimed Simon, hoping he didn't sound too hopeful.

"Yup." grinned Steve, seeing the hopeful look on his friend's face. "She likes ya man. Dunno how many times I'm gonna hafta tell ya' though."

Simon nodded as the bell for first period rang. If things went well later on, then he would definitely ask Kathryn Powell on a date later – if he could build up the nerve to, that is. Unfortunately, the second he saw her, any nerve he'd managed to build up thus far instantly vanished.

Still, she did say 'hi' to him…

**-x-x-x-**

_Well… _thought Simon as he slipped the mask over his head. _Here goes nothing…_

Simon dived off the top of the building he was standing on and sent out a web-line, which attached itself to a nearby building. Swinging through the air, Simon could see why May enjoyed web-slinging so much. As he reached the end of his swing, he sent out another web-line, only to find himself dangling in mid-air, still attached to the first web-line. He severed it and swung again from the other one. The same thing happened with the next web-line.

_Hmm… _he thought to himself as he once again dangled above the street just around the corner from the High school. _Maybe I should try a different tactic._

A few minutes later, Simon was swinging through the air above the streets of Queens with no problem, having found that jumping between swings was much easier and gave him a lot more distance. Sending out another web-line, Simon swung as high as he could before letting go, doing a backflip in mid-air before sending out the next web-line. Already, the black and red figure looked as if he belonged in the sky. Eventually, however, Simon decided that he should stop and actually figure out where he was.

_Maybe I shoulda brought a map, _thought Simon as he looked down from the rooftop he'd just landed on. _Wait… is that a Starbucks? But… the closest one to Midtown High is… oh my god, I've just swung half way across Queens in just a few minutes! And Mayday always complains about it taking so long to get across New York, even with web-slinging. So is that just an excuse she uses or have I just come up with a faster syle of web-swinging? Oh well, it doesn't matter. All I really have to do now is hold my own in a fight, then come up with a name…_

"Get off me!" yelled a voice from an alley below. "Let go!"

"Just give me the bag, bitch!" responded another voice.

_That'll do, _thought Simon as he went to the edge and began wall-crawling down the side.

"I'm warnin' you!" one of the three muggers shouted at the struggling woman. "If you don't give us that purse now, we'll…"

"You'll what?" retorted a voice from behind them.

The three burly criminals turned to see a figure wearing a red and black costume standing in the alleyway. "Who." said one of them as he caught sight of the spider logo on the figure's chest. "Is that…?"

"Don't be stupid!" replied one of his companions. "It's just some stupid kid in a spider costume."

"You best get outta here, kid." the third mugger warned. "People who mess with us get hurt. Especially punk ass kids like you…"

"Blah, blah, blah. Man, you guys're boring me already." interrupted the costumed kid. "Y'know, I was always told that thugs like you were best avoided, but so far, I'm not impressed."

"Why you little…" one of the thugs yelled, pulling out a gun from his pocket and aiming it at the boy. Before the thug could pull the trigger, something extended from the boy's hand and pulled the gun out of the mugger's hand, straight into the boy's own. The boy in the costume looked at the gun for a few seconds before tossing it to one side.

"Oh shit…" muttered one of the muggers as the three of them realised that this wasn't just some kid in a fancy costume.

**-x-x-x-**

"And then what happened?" the police officer asked the still terrified woman.

"Well… he jumped from where he was and landed right next to us." the woman began to explain. "Then, he grabbed one of them from behind and threw him into one of the others… with one hand… then he fired out a web and pulled the last one towards him and did… some kind of spinning kick. Then he said something like 'not bad for some kid in a spider suit, huh?' before kicking one of them again. Then he mumbled something to himself and said 'that could work', before telling me to take care and jumping halfway up the side of a building and climbing the rest of the way to the top… just like Spider-Girl does, only faster. The whole thing couldn't've lasted much more than a minute."

Just above them, a distinctly feminine figure in a red and blue costume was listening. _No way, _thought May as she listened as the woman continue to describe the 'kid in the spider costume'. _Another spider? In a red and black costume? But… that would mean… no way… Simon?_

As the three still unconscious muggers were loaded into a couple of ambulances, no one noticed Spider-Girl swing away.

**-x-x-x-**

"Dad!" exclaimed May as she burst through the living room door, still in her spider costume, minus mask. "There's…"

"Someone going around in a red and black spider costume calling himself the Spider Kid, we know." interrupted Peter, glancing at the news bulletin on the TV. "Now get that costume off now, before someone looks through the window or something."

"Huh?" exclaimed May, looking down and realising she was still in costume. "Oh." was all she then said before dashing upstairs to her room. About a minute later, May came back downstairs, this time wearing her usual clothes. "So what've I missed?"

"Well, apparently there's a new costumed crime-fighter in town." said a voice from one of the armchairs. "And before you say anything May, it's not me. I've already had the interrogation from Mom and Dad."

"Simon!" snapped Peter before turning his attention back to his daughter. "Well, so far, all we know is that he's stopped a bank robbery and he calls himself the 'Spider Kid'."

"As well as a mugging." said May. "That's how I heard." she then added.

Simon quickly tuned out the rest of the conversation between his two fellow spiders and turned his attention back to the TV. Plastered over the screen was a still picture of him perched on a streetlight from which several would be bank robbers were suspended from a web-line – something not seen since the days of Spider-Man himself. _Man, I can't believe that's actually me in that costume, _he thought, trying not to grin. _That's me they're talking about. I just stopped a bank robbery and a mugging, all on my first day and now they're talking about it on the news. Not only that, but I finally have a kick-ass name for myself to go with my kick-ass costume…_

"One eyewitness described it as being 'like watching Spider-Girl, only in fast-forward'." said the voice of one of the newsreaders on the TV.

Simon struggled not to laugh out loud at this, but failed when he saw May's expression.

May scowled at her younger brother. "What's so funny?"

"One appearance…" he gasped out. "One appearance and they're… already making comparisons… between him and you. I guess… I guess you've got some… competition on your hands… Mayday."

"Very funny." mumbled May as she slumped down on the sofa.

"Aw, is Mayday feeling upset 'cos there's another spider stealing her thunder?" Simon couldn't help but say in a mocking voice once he'd stopped laughing.

"Shut up, Simon." growled May.

Simon merely smirked – normally he would have backed down at this point, if it even got that far, but this time, he was feeling confident. "Oh dear. Looks like I struck a nerve."

"Simon…" began May, giving her brother a warning glare as she did so.

"Alright, alright, fine, I'll shut up." interrupted Simon, getting up. "But I do reckon you're jealous of him, though I'm not sure whether it's those sweet acrobatics or the kick-ass costume…"

Before May could make a retort, Simon left the living room.

"It's him." muttered May angrily. "It's definitely him."

"Now, May…" began Peter.

"I don't care what he said to you, Dad!" said May, her voice rising sharply. "He's mocking us, can't you see it? He's become this 'Spider Kid' without us knowing and he's rubbing our faces in it."

"You wouldn't be saying that if you'd heard him when the story came on." replied Peter. "The second I said anything, he just exploded. Some of the stuff he said really upset your mother though, so don't talk about it when she gets back in."

"Alright, Dad." nodded May. "Just as long as you're sure he's not this 'Spider Kid'."

"I'm not." admitted Peter. "But hopefully he isn't."

"Yeah." agreed May. "Besides, Mom would have kittens if she found out Simon was 'playing the hero' too."

Peter gave his daughter a disapproving look, but nodded in agreement.

**-x-x-x-**

In his room, Simon was feeling very pleased with himself.

_Okay, let's recap today. _thought Simon. _First, I go back to school and find that I'm a hero for what I did to Moose and Kathryn says 'hi' to me. Then I put on the costume and master web-swinging within a few minutes, foil a mugging, then a bank robbery. Now, I have a name for my alter-ego and already it's gotten under Mayday's skin. Plus, my performance to Mom and Dad has hopefully convinced 'em that I'm not the Spider Kid, though I'll probably have to repeat it if Mayday comes asking. _He sat down on his bed and grinned to himself. _The Spider Kid – 'like watching Spider-Girl, only in fast-forward'. Man, this is so cool! I'm a superhero – a real live superhero with a colourful costume, a secret identity and really cool superpowers. This is so sweet! Today so kicked ass, and it's only gonna get better from now on… _

For the first time in a long time, things were looking up for Simon Parker – for once, he was happy with who he was.


End file.
